Universal/Disney Trip - Where to go first?

[CaptainAmerica]

Thank you for the suggestion. I checked and it actually WAS cheaper to add a night at the hotel and a full day at the park than it would have been to purchase MVMCP tickets for four (and the MVMCP may/may not happen this year).
The new itinerary:
Saturday, Nov 13 - fly in, Magical Express to Art of Animation
Sunday, Nov 14 - Hollywood Studios
Monday, Nov 15 - Magic Kingdom
Tuesday, Nov 16 - EPCOT
Wednesday, Nov 17 - Animal Kingdom
Thursday, Nov 18 - Hollywood Studios
Friday, Nov 19 - Magic Kingdom
Saturday, Nov 20 - check out, shuttle to Hard Rock, go to Universal/IOA
Sunday, Nov 21 - Universal/IOA
Monday, Nov 22 - Universal/IOA
Tuesday, Nov 23 - fly home

That will give us two days at Hollywood Studios AND Magic Kingdom. We won't be at the parks from rope drop to closing every day. I want everyone to enjoy themselves and I don't want them to be worn out and miserable. Hopefully this itinerary will give everyone the chance to check a lot of their "must do" items off their list.
I am also hoping my youngest daughter will enjoy getting to spend her birthday on vacation in Universal.

Love it. My kids are up at 6 every morning so we rope drop whether we like it or not, but we either nap or go to bed by 8 (or both) so it balances out. You're smart to make sure everyone is well rested.

 

[juniperjen]

Love it. My kids are up at 6 every morning so we rope drop whether we like it or not, but we either nap or go to bed by 8 (or both) so it balances out. You're smart to make sure everyone is well rested.

It will be interesting to see how our sleep patterns/schedule are this trip. On our last trip, we had my parents with us and our oldest was five. I had every minute basically planned out for us. We did the dining plan so we had lots of table service meals to get to and I had scheduled lots of extra things.
I am sure it will be very different with just the four of us and the kids being 16 and 8. I am just going to try and not be overly stressed and won't make us do every single thing. My main goal is for us to have fun. If we decide we want to get up early and try to rope drop, we will. I am only going to plan one or two meals so we can just do quick service food when we are hungry. I hope it will be a little more relaxed.
I booked our flights, Disney, and Universal today. I am excited!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It will be interesting to see how our sleep patterns/schedule are this trip. On our last trip, we had my parents with us and our oldest was five. I had every minute basically planned out for us. We did the dining plan so we had lots of table service meals to get to and I had scheduled lots of extra things.
I am sure it will be very different with just the four of us and the kids being 16 and 8. I am just going to try and not be overly stressed and won't make us do every single thing. My main goal is for us to have fun. If we decide we want to get up early and try to rope drop, we will. I am only going to plan one or two meals so we can just do quick service food when we are hungry. I hope it will be a little more relaxed.
I booked our flights, Disney, and Universal today. I am excited!

Yep, a lot of people like to use table service meals as their way to relax and get out of the sun, but I feel like they just suck so much time out of the day. We still do a handful over an eight night trip, but not nearly as many as we used to.

 

[Mummum]

Thank you for the suggestion. I checked and it actually WAS cheaper to add a night at the hotel and a full day at the park than it would have been to purchase MVMCP tickets for four (and the MVMCP may/may not happen this year).
The new itinerary:
Saturday, Nov 13 - fly in, Magical Express to Art of Animation
Sunday, Nov 14 - Hollywood Studios
Monday, Nov 15 - Magic Kingdom
Tuesday, Nov 16 - EPCOT
Wednesday, Nov 17 - Animal Kingdom
Thursday, Nov 18 - Hollywood Studios
Friday, Nov 19 - Magic Kingdom
Saturday, Nov 20 - check out, shuttle to Hard Rock, go to Universal/IOA
Sunday, Nov 21 - Universal/IOA
Monday, Nov 22 - Universal/IOA
Tuesday, Nov 23 - fly home

That will give us two days at Hollywood Studios AND Magic Kingdom. We won't be at the parks from rope drop to closing every day. I want everyone to enjoy themselves and I don't want them to be worn out and miserable. Hopefully this itinerary will give everyone the chance to check a lot of their "must do" items off their list.
I am also hoping my youngest daughter will enjoy getting to spend her birthday on vacation in Universal.

 

[JillC LI]

Thank you for the suggestion. I checked and it actually WAS cheaper to add a night at the hotel and a full day at the park than it would have been to purchase MVMCP tickets for four (and the MVMCP may/may not happen this year).
The new itinerary:
Saturday, Nov 13 - fly in, Magical Express to Art of Animation
Sunday, Nov 14 - Hollywood Studios
Monday, Nov 15 - Magic Kingdom
Tuesday, Nov 16 - EPCOT
Wednesday, Nov 17 - Animal Kingdom
Thursday, Nov 18 - Hollywood Studios
Friday, Nov 19 - Magic Kingdom
Saturday, Nov 20 - check out, shuttle to Hard Rock, go to Universal/IOA
Sunday, Nov 21 - Universal/IOA
Monday, Nov 22 - Universal/IOA
Tuesday, Nov 23 - fly home

That will give us two days at Hollywood Studios AND Magic Kingdom. We won't be at the parks from rope drop to closing every day. I want everyone to enjoy themselves and I don't want them to be worn out and miserable. Hopefully this itinerary will give everyone the chance to check a lot of their "must do" items off their list.
I am also hoping my youngest daughter will enjoy getting to spend her birthday on vacation in Universal.

This sounds like a perfect and relaxing way to do it. The Express Pass and early entry at Uni are gamechangers. Remember that you can't ride the Hogwarts Express unless you have two park passes.